Preaching with a purpose

Does your worth as a person depend on how much work you do?  Do you think God rates you according to how much you do?  Your worth depends on what He has done for you, not on what you can do.  To be considered of worth to God all you need is to know you are trusting in Jesus.  Of course you have to earn a living, but this must not be your first priority.  Having fellowship with God is what you need most of all.  We so easily think we are only as good as the things we do.  Just as too much work can come between you and your family, so it can come between you and God. Having the right balance can be difficult to achieve but it is worth while to do this. It is possible to be very busy in your church and yet be giving very little time to God.Take a long hard look at what you are doing and ask God to show what His priorities are for you.

He is God the Son, co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  There are so many Christians who do not understand this properly.  We forget that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of Lords.  Yes He came in the form of a helpless babe and of Himself laid aside His glory, but He took it up again after the ascension when He sat down at the right hand of God. After the resurrection when Thomas saw Jesus he declared Jesus to be, "My Lord and my God."  and Jesus accepted that title from him. Jesus was a good man, but that is not all, He was very God of very God, and He still is.  And we are His children and will be with Him one day when all the trials of this life are over.

Most of the problems we have in life are because we do not have our priorities right.  We forget we are pilgrims  and strangers here and we start to settle in.  We should be looking to our eternal future and not building castles here. If you have built a castle you must put it to good use to use as a place where others can find Jesus.  You cannot serve God and mammon.  Riches cannot be trusted, instead built up riches in heaven where they cannot be stolen or spoilt. Those who preach the prosperity gospel would lead you astray.  Riches are rarely compatible with a spiritual life. 

This world looks to be in a terrible mess to us, but "God is working His purpose out as year succeeds to year." God's will is not frustrated.  The only one who is frustrated is the Devil.  No matter what he does he is still bringing God's will to pass and he never seems to learn from the past.  The Devil thought he had brought about his ultimate triumph when he engineered the death of Jesus on the cross.  Instead it was his defeat, to be brought about at the end of time.  He thought he had defeated Jesus and brought about the total enslavement of mankind but instead Jesus had brought release and abundance of life to all who trust in Him. Never fear God is working out His purposes.

Far more people are killed in road traffic accidents than die of Ebola.  That is no comfort for the people who do die of Ebola, but it puts it all into perspective.  Our governments do very little to lessen the car accidents, they are just treated as just one of those things.  Those of us who are Christians should not allow ourselves to be frightened out of our wits by the media.  This world is not our final home, we are on a journey to heaven where Jesus is preparing us our real home. If we are His it matters not whether we die of Ebola, or a traffic accident or peacefully in our beds at ninety. We all have to die sometime and for the Christian this is the gateway to eternal life. Are you living as someone who is just camping in this world and looking forward to the real life to come?  Or are you investing too much in the here and now?

Our Lord warned us we would have troubles in this life.  So often we are taken off guard and disappointed by what happens, but we have been warned.  We try to make this world our home when we should be realizing that our home is in heaven.  Here we are just passing through.  We cannot expect to get comfortable when we are on a journey, full of mishaps.  We are to set out sights on heaven.  There we shall have perfect peace at last and joy immeasurable.  Meantime we are an army on the march and should not expect feather pillows.  We are in the biggest war ever.  The war is won but we are in the midst of skirmishes which we must pass through before we gain heaven, won for us by Jesus on the cross.

If you are trusting in the death of Jesus to put you right in God's sight, why are you worrying about the little things in life?  Whatever you need He can supply. He has life planned and you have no need to fret.   His will is perfect and is being done even in this world that is in such a mess.  One day you will be amazed at how God has brought all things to wonderful resolution and brought all His children into the kingdom, not one left behind.  Do not fret over the little things.

It's all very well for me to tell you not to be afraid, but what do I do about fear?  I am just an ordinary Christian woman and often I give in to fear and let it walk all over me.  I should not do this, but I do.  Fear grips me tight and I have to fight hard to put it in its place.  If we believe God is our Father and caring for us every single minute we surely do not need to fear.  We need to remind ourselves of the Father's love.  Indeed we may have to go through very difficult times, but He is with us all the way.  So don't imagine that I am some sort of super Christian who is always trusting as I should, but I do come back again and again to rest in God's love and faithfulness

There are many things happening in the world today that frighten us, if we let fear grip us.  We do not have to go down that road.  If we have found Jesus, then we have the peace of God available to us.  It is called the peace of God that passes all understanding. This is because when everything around us shouts for us to be afraid this peace of God can be ours, when it looks as if peace is impossible. God's peace isn't available when all around is calm; it is here for the times when peace seems impossible. We must let this peace rule our hearts so that we are available to help others in their need.  We are not meant to run around like headless chickens when things are difficult.  We are to be strong and fearless to meet the troubles of our day.

Jesus said, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you."  What a blessing when we know He has chosen us. The decision is His and He will never revoke it.  If we had done the choosing there is a real danger that we would go back on the decision.  Read Ephesians chapters one and two to read more about this.   Why do people resent this doctrine?  It is a way to true peace to know that Jesus has chosen you.  He died for you while you were yet a sinner.  His decision does not depend on any merit of you own, for you have none.  He has chosen you because He decided to for His own reasons.Rejoice in it.

I am really going to try harder to post here on a regular basis.  There are many of you out there who seem to appreciate what I am saying, particularly when I quote the Bible.  That is good, for the only place we can get truth is from the Bible itself and everything that rests on it.  We all need to read our Bibles regularly, best of all daily.  We need to read from every part of it as it is an integrated book.  One portion will give us light on another portion.  Never let anyone tell you that you can manage without the Old Testament.  There is a helpful saying, "The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed.   Check everything you hear preached, with the Bible, even if you think you have a trustworthy preacher. Paul commended the Bereans for doing this.See Acts 17 : 10,11

Is the spread of Ebola paralysing you with fear? Are you afraid of Isis? Your fear should be in an entirely different direction.  You should fear the Eternal, Almighty God.  He is the one who controls all things.  You might take measures to protect yourself from Ebola, but if you are meant to get it, you will.  Fear God He is above all things.  Fear what He can do to you.  And if you respect Him like this you have only to trust in Jesus and you are safe even if you die of Ebola or at the hands of Isis. God is the only One to fear and once you fear Him you will have nothing else to fear.